A look inside Hollywood and the movies : THE CHEERIO FILE : No, We Did <i> Not</i> Expect Howard Hawks, but We <i> Did</i> Expect You to Hate It

Given its veddy English subject matter, and its hostile reviews in the United States, one might have thought British movie critics would have their knives sharpened for “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves,” which opened in London last weekend.

Well, yes and no. Though Kevin Costner’s performance in the title role was greeted coolly, some reviewers found themselves warming to the film.

“The most enjoyable swashbuckling romance to have emerged from Hollywood since ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark,’ ” enthused the Sunday Telegraph’s normally restrained Christopher Tookey. “It’s tremendous fun and deserves to be a hit.”

Derek Malcolm of the Guardian found it “the kind of entertainment that is distinctly superior to the usual summer fare.

“What did the America critics expect?” he added. “Howard Hawks?”

George Perry of the Sunday Times thought it “highly enjoyable. With a running time of 143 minutes, it is, however, a long haul.”

Even the film’s defenders seemed unanimous that Costner had the film stolen from him by Alan Rickman as the Sheriff of Nottingham. “The star’s persona, not very well aided and abetted by a rather unsuitably bleating American voice, is overshadowed on occasion,” Malcolm wrote. Perry agreed: “(Costner) has a dull and earnest speaking manner which tends to become monotonous, made worse when he attempts an embarrassingly misguided English accent.”

Those who disliked “Prince of Thieves” had a field day. “One look, one word from Kevin Costner and the awful truth dawns,” wrote Geoff Brown of the Times. “The man has been grievously miscast, thrust into a century, the 12th, that knew nothing of baseball, the expression ‘laid back,’ environmental protection or dancing with wolves. Whereas character actors impale themselves on their lines, Costner just brushes against them, remaining 3,000 miles from an English accent.”

The Observer’s Philip French, recalling Costner’s on-screen comment to Madonna that he found her show “neat,” added that “Prince of Thieves” was itself neat--”in the mindlessly complimentary way American teen-agers use the word. It isn’t neat in the sense of precise, orderly or undiluted.”

And Tom Hutchinson of the Mail on Sunday groused: “It takes a serious lack of understanding to turn Robin Hood into a wimp. Yet Costner has been allowed to do just that. Costner’s trouble is he’s nothing if not serious. Which means in this case he’s nothing. . . . He hasn’t learned that it’s possible to have fun with a folk hero.”